Check into TDI Therapy Dog International. There tests are hard to get into so keep an eye on the site often. With TDI you set up your own locations. You get certified and then you can go where ever you get set up. I am set up through our animal rescue league. They have facilities set up and I just pick one of theirs and go.

My dog gets excitable as well and as long as they listen to commands it should be fine. The only real misbehavior I get from her is when she finds food on the floor I tell her to leave it and she will, but will continue to pull towards it. Sometimes I point at the chair arm to try to get her to put her head there and she thinks I mean jump up there. SHe's come close, but I've caught her before she landed. Surprise....a 45 pound lap dog in your lag.

Edited by: CARROLLKR at: 7/14/2016 (10:23)

If you got a traffic ticket would you break every traffic law the rest of the day? Then why toss the whole day over a slice of pizza? ~Indygirl

I will check at Dumb Friends and see if they have something like that. I haven't ever seen anything like it, though. Cassie might be a little too excitable for it, though. Her breeder thought she might be ideal, mainly because she loves everybody, but she gets excited to see people and jumps all over.

If I can find the information I got from Linda in Arizona (I think Phoenix) I could maybe get into the certification testing through her if she ever comes to Colorado. That is if she is still doing the testing. Since the ACD-L isn't doing anything now, I don't see anything from her or about her dogs.

TDI does not require classes. The problem I ran into with TDI is they don't do the testing very often. I couldn't get into test. When they had them they filled up fast. I think the people that took the classes, got first shot at the next class. Then I found out that our Rescuse facility has a therapets program. It was so much easier. And they have facilities all ready signed up, you just pick one. TDI you have to find your facility and get them to accept you.

If you got a traffic ticket would you break every traffic law the rest of the day? Then why toss the whole day over a slice of pizza? ~Indygirl

I looked up what was needed here after I got Cassie. One of them you had to go through at least a week of classes and the other one was a weekend for $200 plus certification at $60 and membership at $35/year. I can't remember what the week--long one cost, but it also had a fee for the certification and a yearly membership fee. None of the hospitals, libraries, nursing homes, etc. would accept any therapy dogs without the certification and membership. I had thought maybe I could train her myself, too, but couldn't find anywhere that they would accept that.

I'm going to check out the book. Then I'm going to sign her up for the first obedience class. She'll have to get through three classes before she can get to the TDI. I'm pretty excited about it though.

If you got a traffic ticket would you break every traffic law the rest of the day? Then why toss the whole day over a slice of pizza? ~Indygirl

I was ROFL when I read that some poeple think herding dogs can not smell well. They can certainly smell hundreds of times better than people can and you are right, many of them are used for Search and Rescue work. With any service or therapy dog the relationship is the foundation and everything else is icing on the cake. The average service dog only learns about 200 words/commands and therapy dogs often learn far fewer. But the number of situations where dogs act intelligently empathetically to situations as needed without any training far outweigh the benefits of trained behaviors in many cases. Birgit

I guess that it might have been they weren't suitable for service dogs more than therapy dogs, but they really generalized. You mentioned the Sheltie, and I can't really think that people would say shelties couldn't make it as therapy or service dogs. I do agree that it is dependent on the dog and not the breed. The generalizations made by some of the people involved are pretty unfair. Actually, the one lady who told me that herding dogs aren't any good for it said they don't have sense of smell. There are a lot of them in search and rescue, though, and that takes a sense of smell. I would not put any breed or group down for being therapy or service dogs.

Thanks for your opinions.

BTW, my cat would definitely make a good therapy cat. He is such a cuddle-bug.

I think it is important to mention that some breeds are statistically more likely to be suited as service or therapy dogs, but there are too many exceptions that don't fit the average and of course that includes mixed breeds. There are even cats that make excellent therapy and/or service animals. Within dogs there are more differences between individuals of one breed than there are differences between breeds. The other factor is that when dogs are trained with conventional training methods that involve force-based training than many breeds will not do well because they do not respond well to these training methods. This includes any breeds that are either too soft to handle the corrections (many hounds and some sporting breeds and toys) or become aggressive with force-based methods (some herding or working breeds and some terriers). Another factor is good socialization with people at a young age (6-20 weeks) as this is hard, if not impossible to do as effectively later. Birgit

When I was involved in TDI, many in our kennel club were involved in obedience, agility, TDI, confirmation, or all of the above. We had an Australian Shepherd, Corgie and a Sheltie that were wonderful therapy dogs. My Mom's Sheltie would have made an excellent therapy dog too. In our group, we also had Vizsla, Akita, Toy Poodle, Standard Poodle, Papillion, Wire Haired Pointer, Borzoi, Great Dane, Bulldog, Pomeranian, Mastiff, Labs, Wheaten Terriers... those are the main ones I can remember. I'm sure there were others. I was involved in helping with the obedience classes and they were open to the public. It was always a big class... and so much fun!!! I did confirmation, TDI, agility, Novice Obedience, and Open Obedience. I started to get into Rally O.

So I don't really remember any specific breeds not making good therapy dogs. I think certain personalities may not make good therapy dogs, but I feel anyone who is interested in therapy dog work should check into it. Let the training and test determine if the dog's personality is a good fit. ANY dog can be obedience trained, but it does take a certain personality to be a therapy dog.

I have trained a pointer for therapy dog work. Being calmer is often a good thing, although sometimes a very active dog is good to work with kids or teenagers. They are so affectionate that I believe they will often do well. There are so many dogs that do well that you would never expect to do well. It is very important to use only positive reinforcement training methods because you do not want to shut behaviors down by accident that could be helpful later. For instance with jumping it helps to put incompatible behaviors on cue (like lying down and staying or a stand-stay) instead of correcting the jumping. The dogs should have as many positive experiences with people as possible. I'm reading a book right now that you may find very interesting: www.amazon.com/Comets-Tale-Rescued-Saved-Life/dp/1616203234

It tells the story of a dog that the owner did not originally get as a therapy/service dog but that ended up filling that role.

I guess that's not even thought of. My dog is a vizsla and there probably aren't many that are therapy dogs because they're usually full of energy. She is more laid back than most. Our male would not make a good therapy dog. He'd be bouncing off the walls.

If you got a traffic ticket would you break every traffic law the rest of the day? Then why toss the whole day over a slice of pizza? ~Indygirl

I wanted to do this, but can't afford the classes for training. Cassie would also need quite a bit because she is so excited to see people she jumps on them (and me). She is a very sweet girl, though.

Do you guys find a lot of prejudice in what breeds can make it as therapy dogs? When I was at the Diabetes Expo there was a group down there that trains dogs for diabetes alert dogs and they said that herding dogs are not suitable for therapy dogs. I know of some ACDs that are therapy dogs, but I still keep hearing how they are not suitable.

You will have so much fun with it!! It was the most rewarding experience ever! My grandma was in the nursing home, so that was one place we went all the time. The residents would just light up when we walked in. I had a brown standard poodle that they would call the "little pony". One man would take his medicine for the nurse when we were there. LOL At the school, I would give obedience demonstrations and answer questions. Taking questions from a group of elementary kids was very interesting. Ha! It was just such a great experience! Nothing better!

Awesome. I know they do still have to get the GCC and the Therapy training. And we'll have to start with obedience for sure. My husband thought about the agility as well. She's just so sweet and loves to lay her head in your lap. So I think we'll get her into obedience classes in March. She's just started her season....oh yeah. Thanks for the info.

If you got a traffic ticket would you break every traffic law the rest of the day? Then why toss the whole day over a slice of pizza? ~Indygirl

I used to have several therapy dogs. I loved the experience! Very rewarding! This was several years ago, so things may have changed, but they first had to pass the CGC (Canine Good Citizen test), then, they had to pass the TDI (Therapy Dog, Inc) test. Once they received their card, you can do a lot of fun stuff. I took my dogs into nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and other businesses. Of course, you must ALWAYS give prior notice and get approval before you go. There are also regulations that must be met in order to take your dog in... they must be clean, up-to-date on vaccinations, etc.

I was very involved in obedience training with my dogs. Most fun ever!!!! When I took them places, we would give obedience demonstrations, grooming demonstrations, etc. But for the most part, they simply just brought smiles to their faces! We did a lot of winning competitions with our dogs, but our experience with therapy dog trumped any ribbon we ever won!!!

It does take a special type of dog to become a therapy dog. They need proper obedience training and a social attitude/personality. Any breed can be a great therapy dog... but like with people, they each have their own personality. Most of the time you can tell going through the obedience training class, or CGC test if they would make a good therapy dog.

Anyway, good luck with it! You will have so much fun! If you have any questions, let me know!!

I have a sweet dog that I think would be great as a therapy dog. I'm curious what you have done with one when you completed the training? My dog needs obedience training first because she likes to jump. She'd be knocking people over to get their attention. She can sense sadness and wants to lay in your lap.

If you got a traffic ticket would you break every traffic law the rest of the day? Then why toss the whole day over a slice of pizza? ~Indygirl

SparkPeople, SparkCoach, SparkPages, SparkPoints, SparkDiet, SparkAmerica, SparkRecipes, DailySpark, and other marks are trademarks of SparkPeople, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this website can be used without the permission of SparkPeople or its authorized affiliates.
SPARKPEOPLE is a registered trademark of SparkPeople, Inc. in the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia. All rights reserved.

NOTE: Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy last updated on October 25, 2013